Yesterday was the annual celebration of Mother’s Day. Surely it is another of those days that was cooked up by the Hallmark company to sell greeting cards. The fact is the day has it’s origins back in 1870 when Julia Ward Howe (writer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) started the idea of a Mother’s Peace Day. It was all about eradicating war. In 1907, a lady from Philadelphia named Anna Jarvis began a campaign to have “Mother’s Day” officially recognized and President Woodrow Wilson did just that in 1914. So much for my greeting card sales theory. The reality is the way we celebrate Mother’s Day has changed a lot from the way it started and in my opinion it is appropriate that we now lavish moms with gifts and expressions of our love. For some of us our mothers deserve major awards just for getting us to adult hood with minimal catastrophes along the way!
This was the first Mother’s Day I observed without my mom. She went to be with The Lord and my dad last Halloween. My mother was the epitome of how we used to define a mother. Ginny Mae as my dad called her, could have been June Cleaver’s roll model (if you haven’t watched old clips of “Leave it to Beaver” please do so, it might do you some good). Today it is politically correct to believe mothers can work outside the home and still raise children effectively. That wasn’t the most popular thinking when I was growing up. My mom did work outside our home for a little while after she and my dad were forced to make a move to Albuquerque, New Mexico. They needed the extra cash and my maternal grandmother was there to lend a hand taking care of me and my sister. However, when my mother thought it was time for her to be home to be the mother God created her to be, she quit her job, we sucked it up a little as a family and she became a full-time mother. I was only around 4 years old but I can still remember how excited I was knowing she would always be home with us.
My mother was an amazing, loving, nurturing mother. She was always geared toward encouragement rather than admonishment. Even when my sister and I were being rotten little brats she never got too upset. She would not hesitate to discipline us but it was always in a way that got the point across without destroying our spirit and energy. I guess, in today’s terms, she was a helicopter parent but in the best way possible. She didn’t hover over us but she was always there whenever we needed her. She wasn’t in bondage to us, she simply loved us and wanted to be part of our lives. And still, she trusted my sister and me. She gave us freedom without letting the rope out so far we got in deep trouble. My mother loved the Lord with all her heart and it was reflected in the way she cared for us. She didn’t beat us over the head with the Bible, rather she exemplified her faith in how she treated us and my father. I guess I never realized how much she loved the Lord until after my father passed away and we cleaned out their apartment. I found daily devotionals, entries in her journals, Bible versus scribbled on pieces of paper and other things I never knew existed that were tied to her faith. My mom was a pretty simple person and didn’t require a lot. She was deeply in love with my dad and called him her “Captain.”
I really believe that men have an obligation to release their wives to be great mothers. Say what? I am saying a mother can’t be a great mother unless her husband releases her to be what she was born to be. My mother’s “Captain” did exactly that, he released her to be a great mother. He also set an admirable example for me to follow and thanks be to God I am married to a woman who is an awesome mother. Fortunately I see examples of men who do the same thing today; they release their wives from the worlds’ expectations and allow them to be great mothers. My daughter-in-law is a perfect example of that. My son has given her the freedom to shed the worlds’ modern definition of a wife and mother and to become a wonderful, loving, nurturing mother to my granddaughters. I couldn’t be more proud of him for doing that or more appreciative that she has heard Gods call and loves being a great mother to her daughters.
In Leviticus 19:3 God instructs us, “Every one of you shall revere your mother.” This past weekend was a chance for me to sit back and think about my mother – to really spend some time in reverence and appreciation for what she did for me.
Not everyone gets to have a mom like mine. I was truly blessed to have her for a long time, 96 years to be exact. I also had the distinct privilege of ministering to her during the last few years of her life. I will never forget the afternoons we sat together quietly in her room at Brookdale Lakewood Meridian and read the Bible together. I won’t forget her beautiful, loving, knowing smile. I miss her quick whit and the way she would kid me about certain things. I can still feel the gentle tap, tap, tap of her hand as she patted my hand while I read to her.
Love you Mom – Happy Mother’s Day
Doug's Journey 